Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, I will repeat that statement and I will repeat the words that I said at the doorstop yesterday about this matter. I was asked about matters in the Australian. I said that they were untrue. I went on to say:

… let me make this very clear: of course my door is open to talk to people as I work my way through the reshuffle, but the decisions are mine and I’ll make them.

So that is the situation. What then happened in question time of course is that the Leader of the Opposition came in here and made a claim that he could not sustain in question time. He came in here and made a claim about the nature of the discussions I had had with Bob Carr. In stark contradiction to what the Leader of the Opposition came into this parliament and claimed yesterday, Bob Carr, the former Premier of New South Wales, said yesterday that while party officers had talked to him about the possibility of him filling the New South Wales Senate vacancy and being able to be considered for the office of foreign minister, Prime Minister Gillard had definitely not made any offer about the foreign affairs ministry, nor had anyone on her behalf—a stark contradiction to the many false claims, many stated false claims, by the Leader of the Opposition yesterday. I am surprised, given the Leader of the Opposition came in yesterday and said things that were false, that he would be continuing to pursue those falsehoods today.

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